In Europe there are several countries that just had or will soon have new elections. The UK just chose for the conservatives, Agelika Merkel in Germany just lost in some states, and in The Netherlands new elections on 9 June 2010 will show if the right wing extremists will indeed become more powerfull or not.

BTW: Here is some background information on the politics in the Netherlands

The Dutch parliament has 150 seats. The voters can choose from different parties, and depending on the nmber of votes each party gets, they get a number of seats in the parliament.

There are a couple of parties, who are usually the biggest ones, because they exist for a long time, and their views are somewhat broad, so there something in there programme for everyone. And there are some smaller parties, that have some more extreme views, or focus on certain specific issues or groups.

As normally none of these parties has a majority in the parliament, they will have to form a coalition. This time, it will be hard to make one, as even parties that are generally bigger, are losing votes, and the programmes of the different parties show a lot of differences on different issues.

This election just gone I voted for Liberal Democrats. They were really the only party that was interesting in repealing the Digital Economy Act. Now the Conservatives failed to reach a majority of 326 seats = hung parliament. so we've got a bit of the Lib. Dems ans Conservatives in a coalition.

I would go for D66 in the Netherlands as well. I don't live there anymore, but I still have my voting rights. I think they are indeed the most reasonable party at this moment.

As regards the UK: It's quite unusual to have a coalition ruling the country there. But the interview/statement from Cameron and Clegg was rather a suprisingly positive one, I think. They seem to raise to the occasion and try to make the best of it. Le's see what it will bring, as there are still a couple of differces between the parties, mainly on foreign politics (e.g. joining the EU and Euro etc).

Ah, the USA is a bit different. The party system mentioned above doesn't quite apply here. We have 2 major parties and2 minor parties at the moment. People who run for office tend to run under one of these 4 parties, and sometimes independent, and usually tend to collect votes from that party. But we don't necessarily vote for a party, because someone who is running and belonging to the party may not completely agree or coincide with all of the parties views.Here is how I understand they break down:

Republican Part - Commonly known as the conservative right wing, tend to have evangelical and fundamentalist religious groups. Primary focus is smaller government, individual freedoms, world policeDemocratic party - Commonly known as the liberal left wing party, they tend to have the more inclusive and progressive religious groups. Primary focus is bigger governemnt, resricted freedoms, world ambassadorLibertarian Party - Commonly known as an extreme right wing, religous views are less emphasized. Primary focus is minimized government, closed boarders, removed from world politics and trade, personal and world independence. Green Party - Commonly known as an extreme left party with less religious emphasis. Primary focus is government mandate and control of all business and industry with an emphasis on ecological care and world ecological preservation regardless of the cost or result.The fifth group consists of independents who do not align themselves with any group. When we register to vote, we have to mark which party we belong to, and if you do not claim one you are considered independent. You must do this in order to vote in primary elections.

Now this is not 100 accurate at all levels, but simply how I see it. and the common names tend to be misnomers, in that they have a traditional meaning that does not actually apply to the parties views of progress.

I consider myself an independent. Grew up and spent most of my life as a Republican. However, recent events on all sides and changes in my theology have caused me to move to independent.

Last edited by Ashen on Fri 14 May 2010, 1:54 am; edited 1 time in total

Ashen wrote:Green Party - Commonly known as an extreme right party with less religious emphasis. Primary focus is government mandate and control of all business and industry with an emphasis on ecological care and world ecological preservation regardless of the cost or result.